Grease cup for automobiles and the like



'S e t.;1'7, 1929. I P. R. mum; 1,728,464

GREASE CUP FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 23, 1927 N 4 2 1 V 07/ :3 IIIIIIIIIII 2' v 26?; Inven/forr 4 x F 3.. w

i Y fliforn'e y.

Patented Sept. 17, 1929 UNITED STATES:

PANNEL ROBINSON YOUNG, or CINCINNATI, 01110 GREASE GU]? FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE Application filed September 23, 1927. Serial No. 221,590.

The invention herein relates to a class of grease-cup or like lubricator devices for journals and bearings generally where it is desired to feed the lubricant in a continuous manner without using'a pump or other mechanical device, or .any manual effort in accomplishing that result. The invention, therefore, presents various novel features that combine to form a highlyefiicient lubrica ting device. capable of feeding lubricants of either fluid or semisolid consistency with equal facility, the rate of such feed to the bearing being readily determined and adjusted without the removal of the entire device from the bearing and the feed control being so constructed that the channels, through which the lubricant is fed, are not liable to become clogged, choked-up or other- I wise obstructed, as they are all wide open,

regardless of the feed adjustment, which lat ter is accomplished through the escape of the lubricant from a fluid-check mechanism embodied or contained within the lubricating device. a

The grease-cup, lubricating device herein consists of a suitable container or receptacle for the lubricant that is adapted to besecured to the bearing in theusual manner and in which the lubricant is maintained under spring pressure sufiicient for its proper feeding therefrom, in an inverted or any other desirable positiomsuch container being provided with a central upright rigid piston post and a cylinder adapted to be filled with a fluid into the respective grease and oil chain bers of said container simultaneously.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my lubricating device, with the dust-cap removed and. otherwise ready for the co-attachment of the correlative charger-gun to fill the container; Fig. 2, a central vertical section of the same light oil or other suitable fluid that acts as,

in lubricant filled relation and with said dust-cap in closed place; Fig. 3, a central vertical. section through my complete lubris cating device, shown empty, and with the said charger-gun attached ready for filling said container; Fig. 4, a sectional plan taken I on line 4, 4, of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, an enlarged vertical section of the fluid. check-valve herein. I

As illustrated in these'views, the lubricator is composed of a cylindrical container body 1 that'has a bottom 2 and the latter an .xtension 3 which is threaded at its lower exit or nozzle-end 4, thesaid body 1 beingalso provided with a flanged cap 5that'issecured thereto in any suitablemanner, but preferably by the threaded joint 6.

I provide, also, -an upright rigid central piston post 7 secured to the bottom of ex tension 3, and extending upwardly into the body 1'.

Thesaid piston post 7 is provided witha suitable packing-cup 8 that forms a close'fit with the inside of a vertical cylinder 9 slidingv thereupon. p

The cylinder 9 is closed atits upper end by means of a check-valve that is composed of a disk 10, a cap 11 secured to the cylinder 9, and a washer 12 forminga seat for said disk 10 and the latter beinglield in contact with said washer 12, by a spring 13 that is supported by a guide plate 14 within the upper end of the cylinder 9.

Mounted on said cylinder 9 andbearing on a shoulder 15, I provide a thiinble 16 havingchannels 17 extending therethrough and closed at the lower end by a leather washer 18 that is secured to the lower part of the cylinder 9 a ring 19. The leather washer 18 is adapted to yield to material forced through the channels 17 in the direction. of the arrows and to resist or check the return of such material through channels li, thus acting as a check-valve.

Mounted on the said thimble 16 I provide a washer piston 20 which rests on a shoulder 21 of the said thimble.a leather cup 22 and. a washer 23 being held in place'by a tube orsleeve 24 which is internally threaded at its lower end and engages the externally threaded portion of said thiinble, the sleeve 24 being duly guided in the cap 5 of the lubricator.

The expansion of a spring 35, placed between tne cap 5 and the upper washer 23 of the leather cup or piston 22, tends to force the said piston 22 from its upper position shown in Fig. 2 to the lower position shown in Fig. 3, thereby simultaneously forcing the lubricant through the openings 65 and 66 in the upright piston post 7 for delivery through the lower nozzle-end 4 to the hearing to be lubricated.

In order to protect the contents of the lubricator from dust and grit I provide an open rapid screw-thread 36 on the cap 11 of the cylinder 9, and a cover 68 having an internally threaded portion is adapted to engage the open threads 36 so as to protect the end of the said cylinder. The said cover 68 is also provided with a base or flange 69 extending over the mouth of the tube or slidable sleeve 24.

To fill the lubricator, I provide a suitably associated charging-gun that is composed of a cylindrical shell 38 fitted with a screw-cap 39 and, also, with a screw-operated plunger, the latter being composed of a cupleather and washers 40 and 41 thatare detachably secured in position on the central hollow screw 42 by means ofthe lock-nuts 43 and 44. The said central hollow screw 42 has threaded connection with the cap 39 and is provided with an upper operating handle or knob 46. Secured to the lower end of the cylindrical shell 38, and adapted to slide within the said hollow screw 42, I provide a tubular stem 47, internally threaded at its base and adapted to engage the thread 36 of the internal cylinder-cap 11 to hold the grease charging-gun in proper relation to the lubricator for filling purposes, and in this position the upper end of the cylinder-cap 11 contacts with a washer 48 resting on a shoulder 49 in the bottom of the tubular stem 47, thereby forming a tight joint between the tubular stem 47 and the cylinder-cap 11, and at the same time causing the tapered or conical extension 51, at the lower end of the charging-gun and surrounded by the leather gasket 53, to contact with the upper beveled mouth end of the tube or sleeve 24, thereby making a tight joint therewith.

The said tapered conical extension 51 is provided with the channel 52, and the leather gasket 53 is held in place by an outside tapered ring 54 that is secured to the bottom of the cylinder shell 38 of the said chargingun.

a The valve-disk 10 is provided with a clownward extension 55, which is guided in the plate 14, and an upper winged-extension 56, the latter guided in the cylinder-cap 11, and, through the extension 55, I provide a central tubular passage 58 that opens into the slidable cylindrical cavity 9, and vented at 57 (Fig. 5) to permit the escapement of the contents of the said cylindrical cavity 9. The said escapement of the contents of cavity 9 is controlled by' the needle-Valve 60, which serves to close the passage 58 in the valve-disk 10 when desired, or to regulate the flow of the fluid.

In operation, the body 38 of the said associated charging-gun is filled with lubricating material, such, for instance herein, as grease, and the hollow screw 42 is filled with light oil, gasoline or the like, and, having been so filled, is attached to the lubricator by screwing the tubular stem 47 of said gun onto the cylinder-cap 11 of the lubricator; then, by turning the knob 45 on the said 1101- low screw 42, the plunger, formed by the leather cup 45 and secured thereto, is forced downward and the lubricant in the body 38 of the said gun is forced through the channels 52, the sleeve 24 and the channels 17, into the container body 1 of the lubricator, and, at the same time, the said light oil contained in the hollow screw 42 is forced past the valve-disk 10 into the cylinder 9, the lu bricator spring 35 assuming the compressed form seen in Fig. 2. The needle-valve 60 is now adjusted to control the escapement of oil from the cylinder 9 into the hearing. The container having been filled and adjusted the dust cap 68 is secured in position on the cylinder-cap 11, the same being sufficiently loose to permit the escapement of the oil discharged from the slidable cylinder 9.

It will be readily seen and understood, from the above description, that the particular advantage of the grease-cup herein is that it automatically feeds the grease being controlled by the escapement of light oil or gasoline or the like from the cylinder 9. It would likewise be useful for feeding cylinder oil to steam engine cylinders.

I claim 1. A grease-cup comprising, in combination, a main receptacle, acover-cap having a central orifice, a vertical cylinder in said receptacle adapted to reciprocate in said orifice, an internal oil container cylinder in said first-named cylinder and having an oil seeping annulus between them, a removable coupling on said oil container cylinder and having flap-closed oil discharges, a piston head on said removable coupling arranged above said oil discharges, a piston actuating spiral on said first-named cylinder, an upright piston-post in the main receptacle adapted for telescopic engagement of said oil container cylinder, correlated transverse and vertical outlets in said piston-post, a central discharge nozzle in the main receptacle in alignment with said piston-post, a cover-cap on said oil container cylinder and having a valve-controlled eXit, and a removable cover-cap on said last-named cover-cap and forming a clo-' sure for the upper orifice of said first-named cylinder and the last-named cover-cap when the grease-cup is in applied place.

2. A grease-cup comprising, in combination, a main heavy lubricant receptacle having a valveless outlet, a centrally orificed cover-cap on said main receptacle, a vertical oil cylinder concentrically supported in said receptacle and adapted to forcibly slide vertically in the orifice of the cover-cap, an internal oil receptacle in said first-named cylinder with an intervening oil-seep annulus and having a perforated coupling-thimble at its lower end, a piston-head on said thimble ad- 5 jacent the exits thereof, an upright pistonpost having valveless grease exits coinciding with said valveless outlet and, adapted to accommodate said vertically-slidable oil receptacle or cylinder, a packing-cup on said piston-post, a coupling on said oil receptacle having a drip-regulating valve, a removable grease-charger adapted to engage the tapered orifice in the grease-cup cap and the upper end of said first-named cylinder, a cap on 5 the grease-charger, and an oil charger means having a piston-head and adapted to engage said coupling.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature.

PANNEL ROBINSON YOUNG. 

